WI: Chuck Berry died young?

Personally, I think it would have improved his legacy, since it would have butterflied away the scandals of his later years (the infamous pee and fart tape, the time he was arrested for hiding cameras in the ladies room, the time his nudes were published in a tabloid)

I don’t think it would have, however, turned him into a Lennonesque martyr figure, since Berry’s music wasn’t deep and philosophical like Lennon’s was. He would probably be remembered like Glenn Miller or some other talented artist who died young.
 
Chuck Berry went to prison in the late fifties for an affair with an underage girl of a different race. When he got out, he realized how difficult it was to get back into the music scene. But he had already made his big contribution by helping to move rock and roll to the mainstream. He was musician, singer, songwriter and composer (though not on paper). Buddy Holly would hold the same honors and the Beatles would be champions. We often ask "What if Buddy Holly had lived?" Like Holly, Berry's contributions could freeze at the 1959 level and the rest of music would evolve with little difference from OTL. Also, we should not forget the role of rapidly evolving recording technology in the evolution of music from the mid-fifties to the late sixties.
 
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